Local News Briefs Thursday 10/15/15

Reeseville Man Found Guilty Of Possessing Child Porn

A Dodge County jury found a 34-year-old Reeseville man guilty of 20 counts of possession of child pornography. The jury’s verdict came after a two-day trial this week for Adam Rogers. The trial featured the testimony of a Wisconsin Department of Justice analyst who said Rogers had approximately 40,000 provocative images of children, the majority of which met the definition of child pornography.  A telephone conference has been scheduled for January 15th, but no sentencing date has been picked yet. District Attorney Kurt Komberg says it was a difficult case involving some of the most disturbing images one could imagine. He commended the work of Assistant District Attorney James Sempf who prosecuted the case.

Warrant Says Otherwise

A 33-year-old West Bend woman wanted on a warrant complicated the situation when a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a car she was in and she lied about her identity. She was unaware that the deputy had stopped at her home earlier in the day when she wasn’t home and was armed with a picture of her. She was taken into custody on the warrant, but now faces an obstruction charge and drug possession charges because nine pills in her purse were for a prescription that didn’t belong to her.

Cost For Waupun Park Shelter More Than Expected

The Waupun Common Council will include an extra $20,000 in the City Budget for 2016 to cover costs for a new shelter in Pine Street Park. Capelle Brothers and Diedrich of Fond du Lac submitted the lowest of the four bids at $59,000. The work on the shelter will account for $35,000 of that cost with the remaining $24,000 for site preparation work. The City only budgeted $40,000 for the work in this year’s budget. The project will start this fall and wrap up in the spring.

Arson Sentencing Sent A Message

The Division Chief of Fire Prevention for Fond du Lac Fire and Rescue says a Fond du Lac County judge recently sent a message that arson won’t be tolerated when he sentenced a 29-year-old Fond du Lac man. Troy Haase says Judge Dale English could have gone with the lighter sentences suggested for Laney Amons, but didn’t. Amons was sentenced to 20 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision.  Haase says it does send a message to the community. He says that message is if you are going to intentionally start a fire that puts others at risk the court system is not going to give you a break. Amons set a fire in his girlfriend’s apartment on May 2nd of 2014. The fire extensively damaged her apartment and there was smoke and water damage to three other apartments in the 12-unit apartment building. Haase says Amons is lucky no one was hurt. Amons was also ordered to pay nearly $298,000 in restitution.

Hydrant Flushing Scheduled

Fond du Lac’s Water Utility has scheduled bi-annual citywide unidirectional water main flushing. It will begin next Monday in the northeast section of the city. Flushing will continue in the southeast neighborhoods on Tuesday, the southwest area on Wednesday morning and finish in the northwest quadrant Wednesday afternoon. Flushing operations will take place each day between the hours of 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM. The city is divided into quarters with Main Street, 4th Street and Western Avenue used as boundary lines. If unexpected problems occur, the schedule could extend into Thursday.

Grandparents Scam Continues To Be Popular Among Scammers

The Division Administrator for the State’s Consumer Protection Department says the Grandparents’ scams continue to be popular. Frank Frassetto says it usually involves a caller posing as a grandchild or someone saying a grandchild has gotten into trouble and needs money. The caller usually indicates the need that the money has to be sent or wired right away. Frassetto says another tell for the scam is that the caller tells the grandparents they shouldn’t tell anyone because they are embarrassed and don’t want other family members to know about it. He says the best thing to do is hang up and contact another member of the family to find out if there is any truth to the story. He says you should never make a decision when you are being pressured.